80% Of Imported Drugs Used In Nigeria Come From India – Emir Sanusi••••Seeks 70% Local Drug Production By 2030
•By OYENIYI AWOJOODU
IBADAN – THE Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has raised concerns over Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imported pharmaceutical products, revealing that about 70 per cent of drugs consumed in the country are imported, with more than 80 per cent of those imports coming from India.
Sanusi warned that the situation poses serious national security and public health risks, calling it unsustainable for a country of Nigeria’s size and population.
The monarch made this known in a keynote address at a conference organised by the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (AIPN) in Lagos. The conference was themed “Reimagining Nigeria’s Health Security: Local Production, Economic Sovereignty & Strategic Partnership.”
According to a statement made available to journalists at the end of the event on Friday, Sanusi described the over-reliance on a single foreign source for essential medicines as “deeply worrisome.”
“About 70 per cent of the drugs used in Nigeria are imported, with 82 per cent of these imports originating from a single country, India,” he said. “This level of concentration is bad news for national security and public health.”
He urged the Federal Government to take urgent steps to establish local pharmaceutical manufacturing plants and create an enabling environment for domestic drug production.
Sanusi stressed that Nigeria should set a clear target of producing at least 70 per cent of the drugs consumed locally by the year 2030, noting that such a move would strengthen the country’s health security, reduce foreign dependence and boost economic growth.
“This requires deliberate political engagement and strategic investment to ensure that the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria becomes largely self-sufficient and capable of supporting the domestic supply chain,” he added.
He further noted that increased local production would not only improve access to essential medicines but also create jobs, stimulate industrial growth and enhance Nigeria’s economic sovereignty.